The 13th - Century Waldenses lived for the Holy Bible. Many died for it! Mark Finely visited their home in the Alps of Northern Italy, and this is his reflection of their life and legacy.
Peter Waldo (c.1140- c. 1205) also known as Pierre Vaude's or deVaux , in French, was the leader of the Waldenses..
As I trudged up the narrow winding Alpine trail in N. Italy, the majesty of the mountains; the pure fresh air; the flower-filled fields; and the crystal clear rushing brooks invigorated my spirits. I paused to take in the awe-inspiring views as my mind drifted back over the centuries. Some 800 years ago, a band of weary men, woman, and children, fled for their lives, on this very trail.
Note(JB): Please know the reason this time frame was called the "Dark Ages" as Rome did not allow the light of God's Word to be public knowledge. Anyone to have even one verse from the Bible in their possession, was a death penalty! Death by fire at the stake, while alive!
This time was not friendly, for 1260 years, to those who conscientiously opposed the views of the official church, in Rome.Many dissidents were oppressed, persecuted, and even butchered in the name of this religion of men. Yet some found a refuge in the Mountains.......
Revelation 12:13 " And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child."
NOTE(JB) The woman, in white (vs 1) is the true church, the women in scarlet is the apostate church of Rev 17, 18.. The child is Jesus Christ whom Satan by Herod tried to kill...
Matthew 2:16 " Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men."
Revelation 12:14 " And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Note(JB) the time = 1 year; times= 2 years; half time = one half year in 360 day Hebrew years= 1260 days./years, Numbers 14:34 "After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise." Ezekiel 4:6 "And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year."
Use this time scale for all prophecy time frames.360+360 x2=180 days= 1260 days./years! in all prophecies.
I am sorry but truth shall set all of us free from deceptions and lies. Read 2nd Thessalonians 2.and Revelation 13 :1-2, and .....
Revelation 13:18 " Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."
Note: 666 is NOT Satan's number! He is an angel, and not a man. This is a series of like-minded men over the years, who think they are God on earth, called by this power system Holy Father! This has nothing to do with those within who have given their hearts to Jesus, but seldom read the Bible with prayerful, asking for the wisdom to have understanding! This power holds its "TRADITIONS" over the Bible!
Mark 7:8-9 " For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition."
.......... I felt an attraction to these godly people of such a stalwart conviction. They maintained a death-defying faith in the face of insurmountable odds. They had something that our 21st Century desperately needs: a purpose to live--and die---for.......
NOTE(JB): Thanks to all the Evolutionists, many a person has grown up with this: Live, love if lucky, and the end is death! So many think, "Why endure all this pain for nothing? End it now by suicide! Record numbers of doing just that in their teen years! Thanks to the hopeless evlution idea!
QUESTION: Since all life forms, from bacteria to humans, have within them DNA, and this being information, and as information MUST originate within intelligence, and knowing that neither chemicals nor ooze have any intellect, this leaves only the Creator God with intelligence, right? Charles Darwin's ideas were not fully passed on, especially the part where he said, the White race evolved first and farther than the colored races, thus they can be used by the whites! OPPPS?????? But then the left is full of oxymoronic ideals, right? Don't agree with them you are a racist, a bigot or worse. No dialogue just facts according to them, and forget truth! Who do they think, they fool?
....... Renowned American psychologist Philip Cushman, i n his book," CONSTRUCTING THE SELF, CONSTRUCTING AMERICA," he discusses people living purposeless lives in the prosperous, self-centered Western individualistic society. He writes about those who have constructed a "SELF" that is fundamentally a disappointment to self. They have nothing worth dying for, so they have nothing worth living for!
NOTE(JB) Can you now understand the why so many kill themselves? M.T. Lives! They know not Jesus! They ONLY know of Him!
........ The people whose footprints I was following up the steep, rocky trail had an abiding purpose i n life, and they were not willing to compromise. In the face of death itself, that had an inner peace. Theirs was a serenity of soul-deep within that absent from many in our 21st Century, world of glitz, glamour, and immediate self-gratification. They were the Waldenses!
Note(JB): Among these, consider the true stories of the Albigenses, and the Waldenes as well as the Huguenots. A woman, who fled into the wilderness? Never more true that with these believers, who fled the persecution of the Roman Church leaderships. The Huguenots, under the promise if the Catholic King of france, seeking peace, 50,000 men, woman and children met for discussions, and the army of the king put them all to the sword, and when Rome got this news, the Bells of St Peter rang out in their joy! ST Bartholomew Massacre!
John 16:2 "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."
THE ALBIGENSES.
IN THE EARLY 12TH CENTURY, the 1100's .a group of reform-minded Christians separated from the Roman Catholic ( meaning Universal) Church, no longer able to conscientiously to accept or believe the many non biblical doctrines of this church. So named after the town this movement began Albi in S. France about 20 miles north of present-day Toulouse, they preached against the human priesthood for forgiveness,, worships of saints, and relics, and idols and the elevation of papal authority to that above the Bible. By 1167 thej Albigenses comprised the majority of the total population of Southern France! In 1208 the ironically named Pope Innocent III, ordered a crusade of extermination against them labelling them as" heretics" and the Albigenses were summarily exterminated. Today there are none who call self Albigenses! But this is true also between 485 and 530 A.D. when three " Horns" or three kingdoms were pulled up by the roots, Heruli destroyed in A.D. 493: Vandals in 534: and the Ostrogoths in 538.. Daniel 7:8,20,24. All of these people were totally exterminated under the orders of the Vatican! Only the words Vandals, vandalism, and vandalized remains!. It is no wonder that in most Islamic nations we can see Catholic cathedrals, as they know they are not Christians, ......just asking?
With all this happy talk about unity a nd Ecumenical joy, where nearly ALL her "Daughters" the Protestants, are running back to" Mother Church" It behoves us all to know that SHE had not changed one iota of her doctrines, and still believes that it is "SHE" who has the power to decree a heretic, and "SHE" only knows that all who deviate for her doctrines is a "Heretic" and thus worthy of only death! You might remember this....
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 " The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us."
NOTE(JB): Please remember, that Ecumenicalism, not withstanding, this beast power has not changed one iota of her doctrines, nor her claims, that all Heaven,must abide by her decisions!
THE WALDENSES, WHO WERE THEY?
As the spiritual darkness in medieval Europe deepened and darkened, the established church grew ever more, and farther away from the Bible's teachings. False doctrines came slowly aboard and embraced by men, at the top! The masses were consumed by guilt, as they were taught that God is a wrathful tyrant and a vindictive judge, who needed to be appeased by gifts to the church, known as INDULGENCES!.........
Note(JB): In short this can be viewed as an PRE-PAYMENT for sins you want to commit, but mostly it is the hoped for payment to shorten one's loved ones in their so-called Purgatory, [ kind of half-way house to hell] My own Dad, in the 1930's before marriage, hired out as a farm-hand, in Holland. The Farmer, had died, and one morning, early he got woke up by shouting between the Lady of the house and an unknown voice!, He got dressed and stood on the stairs, when he heard this "I, in vision saw your dear departed husband clinging on the edges of heaven, and you need to make another donation to the church, to help him up!" This was her Catholic Priest!!! To this she she shouted, "If he's that close, let him pull himself all the way in, Good bye!"
QUESTION: Is this one small reason why this church, as an organization is the richest organization on earth? Far above most international Corporations, in wealth?
Yet, even a casual reading of the Holy Bible, any reader must in honesty, come away with the knowing that The Father-God, loves each of His children and longs each one to reciprocate with love!
Jeremiah 31:3 " The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."
Romans 5:8 " But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
....... At this critical juncture of human history, God would raise up spiritual seekers who should lead men and woman out of this darkness into the light of God 's word. One of these was Peter Waldo, born in Lyons, France, in 1140. He became the leader of a group of Bible-Believing Christians, who believed that the Holy Bible was the true foundation of faith, of truth and ja infallible guide for all believers. He rejected the idea that ONLY the Church can properly interpret the Bible, teaching that anyone who can read, be able to understand the the Word of God, for themselves.
Inside the "CAVE_-CHURCH," Gheisa d'la Tana, where the Waldenes worshiped. Situated in one of the mountains rising from the Angrogna valley, its low entrance is well concealed by trees and rocks. One can enter only by crawling on hands and knees......
Note(JB) in ine such cave, in which 100's gathered for worship, the French Army lit a huge bonfire, and smoke was drawn into the cave,, all those who fled were butchered, and those that did not, suffocated, and perished.
REDISCOVERING THE WORD.
What we each, believe about the Bible will make a dramatic difference in how we live our lives!
IF. . . if The Word of God, is simply a collection of human ideas we can accept it or reject if with lit5tle eternal consequences, right?
BUT. . . .bit if the Bible is as it claims, to be the Divinely inspired Word of God, then there are huge implications towards out eternal lives, agree? It contains more than 3,000 times the words: "And God said", or "The lord Spoke", mplus the apostle Paul, in his writing to his young colleague, Timothy, declared that "All scripture jis God-breathed" [2 Timothy 3:16] ......
NOTE(JB) want an interesting Bible study? From Genesis to Revelation read each and all the 3:16 verses in each book! With the knowing, that some 37 different People, two of whom were woman, in three languages, Hebrew Greek and Chaldean, on three continents Middle east, Europe and Asia, of a span of 1500 years, and but for a few none knew the others, YET there is no dis-harmony within it!
........ The idea that the Bible is not inspired has serious implications. Those who claimed to be inspired either were deliberately lying or were at best deluded. If either of these two are true, how could the Bible possible have such power to change the lives of millions? How could its moral claims be so eloquently stated, and how could so many millions adhere to its laws over the centuries? How could the prophecies is holds, be so accurate for its truthfulness be so convincing? Let's examine some of the evidence, shall we?
PROPHECY FULFILLED.
J. BARTON PAYNE'S : "Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy" lists 1,239 prophecies in the Old Testament, and 578 in the New for a total of 1,817 prophecies in the whole Bible! Somed 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, whom the prophet Micah predicted that He would be born in Bethlehem [Micah 5:2] It's no accident that a decree o0f Caesar Augustus brought Mary and Joseph from their hometown of Nazareth to Bethlehem { meaning "house of Bread," and Jesus said He was the bread of life [John 6:51] Just exactly as Micah had foretold!
Isaiah 7:14 told us He would be born of a virgin, and David in Psalms 22:16 told us He would be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver by Zechariah 11:12-13...........
Note(JB) The "Metal Dream Man", of Nebuchadnezzar's dream of Chapter 2, is explained in chapters 7,8 . In Dan.2:38. the Head of Gold, in Babylon [605 B.C. - 539 B.C.symbolized as the Winged lion.
Arms & Chest of Silver 2;39 Medo-Persia 539- 331 B.C. as the bear/3teeth.
Belly of brass- Dan. 3:39 Greece under A. The Great. as the 4 headed Leopard. 168B.C - 538 A.D.
Dan. 2:40 Legs of Iron as the Terrible beast. 538A.D.---- 1798 A.D. deadly wound [Rev. 13:3]
Dan. 2:41-44 The ten divisions 10 kings of Europe who overthrew pagan Rome
Dan. 7:7;24-25. Papel Rome- as the Little Horn. You can check these events, dates, and order, with any history books, covering this time frame.
Dan. 7: :9,10, 22 == 1844 The heavenly court is seated, judgements begin with the dead.The saints posses the kingdom.All these, last events shall be post His second coming!
Look at this:Jeremiah 51:37 "And Babylon shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons, an astonishment, and an hissing, without an inhabitant."
Note(JB):Remember "Dessert Storm?" Saddam Hussein's question for places and to rebuild his hero Nebuchadnezzar's city of Babylon? When God declared that it would not ever be rebuilt nor occupied?
Was this not but an other reason for this war? THINK! Plus Nineveh , Tyre none would ever be rebuilt nor occupied.
.......... Cyrus, the Persian king who led the attack on Babylon, as actually named in a Bible Prophecy given nearly 150 years before the event in Isaiah 44:28; and 45:1-2.. Plus Daniel in 8:20-21 we know that this was Alexander the Great would overthrow the Medo=Persians at least 15 years before the fact!
The mathematical probabilities that all these would come tps, are astronomical, even only 8 regarding Jesus, as events to touch the life in one person the odds are so high that it is not imaginable for humans to calculations, the odds of 8 to power of 50! Just to large to imagine.
NOTE(JB): As great as the Waldenses were, there's a precious few that today claim this as their heritage, most have returned to the "Mother Church, as has most of her "Daughters" today, the Sunday Keepers! There was another group that rose up against Rome, doctrines, that they held as apostasy, and they were the Albigenses.
They were known as the name of the town of Albi, about 20 miles north of present day Toulouse France. In fact they, the Albigenses, spread there faith over much of Southern France, and by 1208 the falsely labeled Pope Innocent III ordered a crusade against these "Heretics" and the his armies spread over this area and whole towns and cites were massacred. This systematic slaughter of those believers continued for decades, as the church ordered ever more aggressive series of papal inquisitions of torture and murder to exterminate the so-called heretics!Within one hundred years, they were exterminated, not one soul was left that claimed to be an Albigenses.
Time did not make the Papal heart grow softer, a fact that the Huguenots can testify to to this fact in fact the St. Bartholomew Massacre, of 1572 ran from August 24thy to October 3 the Catholics, under the orders of the King Louis XIV lost many thousands, 50,000 in Paris alone, and in many other cities men women and children were put to the sword!IN FACT WHEN THIS NEWS REACHED THE VATICAN, THE BELLS OF ST. PETER'S CHURCH RANG OUT IN THEIR JOY! Plus all the perpetrators received a full church PARDON, for their murders in 1573!
Please know that there many many people in this "FOLD", that totally love Jesus as their Savior, this can't be said of the leadership! Daniel 7:25; 2 Thessalonians 2: 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 1:7
Please know, the word translated as Antichrist, in the Greek means the enemy of Christ, or even INSTEAD OF CHRIST.
why CAN THIS BE SO?
2 Thessalonians 2:9 " Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,"
"EVEN HIM who? Jesus Christ, shall come after Satan's exposed in his visible to all body {in facto} does his thing as his 2nd to last attempt to deceive all humans.He comes in the 6th Trump of Revelation and Christ comes in the Seventh Trumpet call! Just as the 7th Day Sabbath! THINK!
....... Just as Bible Prophecy proves the Holy Bible to be the honest truth, so does the new science of Archeology.
ARCHEOLOGY TESTIFIES FOR THE BIBLE.
RECENT discoveries in the world of archeology helps us to verify numerous people and places mentioned in the Bible, giving us another link in the chain of evidence pointing to the divine inspiration. Each new discovery brings fresh evidence, not doubt, to the Bible's claims.
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES:
- The discovery of the Dead Sea Scroll at Qumran in 1947-- ancient documents that match closely with today's bible manuscripts--- helps us build our confidence that the Bible has been copied accurately through the centuries.
- The Moabite Stone, which was discovered in Jordan in 1868 confirms the Old Testament story of the Moabite attacks on Israel as recorded in 2 Kings.
- The Lachish Letters, discovered in 1935, describe Nebuchadnezzar's attack on Jerusalem in 586 B.C. detailing the campaign from the perspective of the ancient pagan forces, while the Bible records give an identical narrative from the Israelite point of view.
- The discovery of the Tel Dan Steele confirms the Bible's account of David as a king of Israel.
- The Bible speaks to a people, called the Hittites 48 times, for centuries, all the records of antiquity outside of the Bible, not a trace could be found of the Hittites. This caused may a "Scripture Lawyer<" and critic to boast that the whole Bible is a fairy tale! Just because Y O U have never found a gold nugget, does it mean they do not exist? But then came the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, in 1799. I carried a inscription in Greek, Demotic and the mysterious hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt, which, up to that point, none could decipher the meaning. Then Jean-Francois Champollion, using the stone Greek unlocked the mystery and the old writings of the Egyptians now spoke and revealed that he Hittites did in fact exist, and that they were a powerful nation.
Note(JB): In point of fact, it was a a Hittite Pharaoh that issued the decree that all Hebrew males born should be cast into the Nile rive, as a population control, in case another nation invaded them, the Hebrews would not take up with them against Egypt!
Exodus 1:16 "And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live"
LIFE TRANSFORMING POWER.
Millions of people around the world, have already testified, and continue to do so, about how the Bible has changed their lives, and for the better. All due to the fact they have studied the Bible, and its universal, and eternal appeal.its message speaks to people, of all ages, to all ethnic groups, and to all cultures of all generations!Through the reading of the Holy Bible, drunks have become sober, thieves have become honest, prostitutes have become pure, and drug addicts have become clean, and gays have become straight! Anger, Bitterness and resentment have given way to loving forgiveness, mercy and graciousness. Crumbling marriages have been rekindled, Shattered self-esteem has been restored, In God's Word, the weak find strength, the guilty find forgiveness, the discouraged find hope and a new joy. The same Holy Spirit inspired the Bible's writers, also inspires the one who study and read it! Then now and forever!!
AN UNSHAKABLE FAITH.
Recognizing the life-changing and life-giving power of the Word of God, the Waldenses spent hours teaching its principles to their children {JB WHO does this today?} While they were still in their Teens, these youngsters had memorized the Gospel of Matthew and John. They copies their precious manuscripts; and his them , sowed into their robes; left their mountain retreats disguised as peddlers or students, and traveled to the great cities and universities of Europe. When they were providently brought into contact with honest seekers of God and truth, they quietly revealed their secret portions of the Bible, spreading their faith and truth unobtrusively and changing the lives of those accepted what they read.
A TRAIL OF TEARS.
As I visited the ruins and relics of the caves and houses in which they found sanctuary and even death, all for what they believed in what the Bible spoke to them, and what they suffered for that faith! Yes there are stories of escapes that border on the miraculous, and others who died by sword and fire. The legacy of all those martyrs, speaks any, they SHOUT to us today, calling for us to have an even greater commitment and loyalty to God and His Word, today! Jesus Himself is calling out the same message, of steadfast loyalty to Him in His Word, and not the many words of men! If you will decide to surrender to His will, you'll be amazed at the discovery of the peace of mind and purpose that comes over you, a peace the world can only wonder about!
Thanking Y O U for your time. Questions? Comments? John at servant@frontier.com
Want/Need more? Visit your Seventh-day Adventist Church, any Saturday/Sabbath at 9-10 AM. and learn that Heaven has a place for Y O U, that no other can fill!
Other sites: aftv.ORG. BLBN.org. AMAZINGDICOVERIES.org REDEEM.INTERNATIONal
itiswrtiien.con bonesinstones.blogspot.com
cc / jb
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